Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has announced the launch of the “ICE Accountability Project,” an independent effort aimed at collecting and documenting reports of alleged misconduct by federal immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz. The announcement was made at a news conference in downtown Chicago.
“A mask cannot shield agents from accountability, and there simply must be accountability for those individuals if we are a democracy,” Lightfoot stated.
The project invites residents to submit videos, audio recordings, photographs, or other information through reporticenow.com. According to Lightfoot, the website will serve as a “centralized, permanent archive” that can be accessed by law enforcement, elected officials, journalists, and others.
This initiative comes after several months of increased immigration enforcement actions in the Chicago area under President Donald Trump’s administration. Thousands of immigrants were arrested during these operations—most without criminal records—and protests followed where agents used tear gas and pepper spray. The recent killing of a woman by an agent in Minneapolis has further intensified scrutiny.
Some incidents have already been documented on the Report ICE website. These include a federal raid on an apartment building in South Shore and the nonfatal shooting of Marimar Martinez in Brighton Park.
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded immediately to requests for comment.
Lightfoot’s project follows Governor JB Pritzker’s creation of the Illinois Accountability Commission last October. The commission is led by former federal Judge Rubén Castillo and held its first public hearing last month to discuss agents’ use of chemical crowd control weapons. An initial report with findings and recommendations is expected by month’s end; no additional hearings have been scheduled so far.
While Pritzker’s commission aims to develop policies addressing community needs, Lightfoot clarified her project will focus on information collection without specifying future uses for this data.
Lightfoot emphasized her longstanding relationship with Castillo and expressed confidence that both initiatives could work together effectively: “I am confident, both because of our personal relationships with people on the commission and as I said, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Judge Castillo,” she said. “Also our missions are different, but they can coexist and I think work in harmony together.”
The ICE Accountability Project does not possess law enforcement authority nor will it conduct criminal investigations. However, Lightfoot hopes local jurisdictions might act if evidence suggests wrongdoing by agents. She also confirmed that while details such as clothing or vehicles may be published about agents involved in reported incidents, home addresses or personal identifying information would not be shared.
“(There’s) phone videos, other information that’s been collected by people that are out in these neighborhoods and on the front line, but it’s dispersed amongst literally hundreds of different people … It could disappear just like that,” Lightfoot explained. “What we want to do is gather that information in a centralized location so that people who are inclined to do something—people who are in authority—have the ability to do that.”
Submissions will undergo two levels of review: volunteers will verify basic facts like date and location before experienced investigators such as lawyers or former federal agents examine them more closely.
Lightfoot assured contributors their identities would remain confidential unless compelled by court order: She said “under no circumstances” absent a court order signed by a judge would they divulge identities submitted to the project. She added that hosting was done outside U.S.-based platforms due to concerns over potential censorship from domestic companies under current federal administration demands.
She previously discussed plans for this initiative during an interview with Fox 32 Chicago last October while referencing her background in police oversight roles for Chicago city government.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi responded quickly following Lightfoot’s announcement via Fox News: Bondi indicated legal action might follow due to concerns about disclosing agent identities—”I have every reason to believe that they will not be silent in case of this initiative,” Lightfoot commented Thursday—but insisted all activities align with constitutional rights: “But what I also know is everything that we’re doing completely is consistent with our rights, my rights as a private citizen to exercise my personal rights to speak.”
